XPost: alt.usage.english, rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.books   
   From: leslie.danks@aon.at   
      
   J. Clarke wrote:   
      
   > In article <52318db7$1@dnews.tpgi.com.au>, peter@pmoylan.org.invalid   
   > says...   
   >>   
   >> On 12/09/13 16:36, Snidely wrote:   
   >> > on 7/25/2013, Steve Hayes supposed :   
   >> >> On Thu, 25 Jul 2013 07:37:58 +0800, Robert Bannister   
   >> >>    
   >> >> wrote:   
   >> >>   
   >> >>> I would have thought that most people who read SF&F are aware that   
   >> >>> FTL, time travel, telepathy, etc. do not work and cannot work. Back   
   >> >>> when I was twelve, these were all thought to be possibilities.   
   >> >>> Moreover, although only a few really knew the details of real science   
   >> >>> at the time, it was possible to understand the broad ideas, and   
   >> >>> Asimov and others spent a lot of time explaining them. Modern science   
   >> >>> is way beyond the imagination of those not involved.   
   >> >   
   >> > Hmmm.  I'm not sure that Stephen Hawking is that hard to read, at least   
   >> > in _A Brief History of Time_ and _The Universe in a Nutshell_.  I've   
   >> > only dabbled in George Gamow, but his books made an impression on the   
   >> > public, especially the public that was buying science fiction.   
   >>   
   >> I've read Hawking, but I've also met many people who gave up on his   
   >> books, as being too difficult to understand.   
   >>   
   >> When we understand something ourselves, we don't always appreciate why   
   >> other people can't follow it.   
   >   
   > I think that this get's down to C.P. Snow's "The Two Cultures".  A   
   > friend of mine has an earned PhD, speaks a half a dozen languages, and   
   > despite using computers for going on 40 years still can't stick a CD in   
   > the drive and run setup without somebody holding his hand.   
      
   But then he can do it one-handed -- give him credit for that, at least.   
      
   --   
   Les (BrE)   
   This article is a honeypot for typo-spotters.   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)